If you value your own progress, you need to learn how to criticise yourself. We are often eager to criticise others, but when it comes to criticising ourselves we are strangely reluctant. The art of self criticism is essential to learn ing from mistakes and gaining an improved perspective on life.

Consider Your Motives

We maybe able to fool other people, but we should never try to fool ourselves. It is important to be aware of our motivation for doing something. For example, are we being kind to someone with selfless motives, or is it being undertaken with an ulterior motive? At times we like to fool ourselves into thinking we are being altruistic, when actually we are acting from the basis of our ego. This is when we need to be self critical because otherwise our mind can trick us into feeling we are a very good person, when actually we are just being selfish. By being aware of this, we can try to reduce the power of the ego in our lives.

Be Honest with Yourself

Self criticism means we have to be honest with our-self. There is no benefit from trying to justify our bad actions. If we can learn to be honest with ourselves our conscience will prevent us from undertaking regrettable actions. Many bad people, will try and find a way of justifying their actions to themselves; this is the danger of not being honest with yourself. Click here to continue »

Note: Each week PickTheBrain reviews a book or product related to self improvement. This review represents the honest opinion of the author, but we’d like to disclose that PickTheBrain receives a small referral commission on orders.

An interesting product I’ve been using for the past several months is the Paraliminals series from Learning Strategies. The best way to describe Paraliminals is a combination of guided meditation and neuro-linguistic programming. It’s best experienced with stereo head phones because it works by playing two different audio tracks simultaneously.

The experience is difficult to explain, but the two soundtracks compliment each other in such a way that it’s impossible to concentrate on either but your brain is able to absorb both. One voice usually tells a story, relevant to the theme of the session while the other repeats affirmative messages. The sessions cover a wide range of self improvement topics, including health, relationships, personal charisma, and motivation.

Behind the audible voice tracks are soothing nature sounds accompanied by binaural beats. The real power of the program is the binaural beats, which work by using two complimentary frequencies that interfere with each other to create pulsating phantom frequencies.

The beats affect brainwave patterns and help bring the mind to a state of focused relaxation. If you’ve ever used a guided relaxation program, where the instructor takes you through the process of relaxing each part of the body, then you’ll recognize the feeling of your body being totally relaxed while the mind remains alert.

The benefit of Paraliminals is that it allows you to reach this state much more quickly and helps to block out distractions. I’ve found myself using Paraliminals as a substitute for naps.

Instead of going to sleep and waking up groggy, I lay down for 20 minutes and listen to one of the CDs. There are a wide range of topics covered in the Ultimate You series, so I can usually find something that matches my goals for the near future. After listening to the program I get up relaxed, refreshed, and motivated to take action.

Does It Work?

I don’t think anyone is silly enough to believe that listening to a CD will somehow take the work out of success. If you approach Paraliminals with this attitude then you’ll probably be disappointed. That being said, I think those who have a strong desire to bring about positive improvements will find Paraliminals to be a helpful tool.

The biggest benefit that I’ve experienced with the program is the ability to reach focused relaxation in a matter of minutes. Instead of having to find an isolated place and exert effort to clear my mind, Paraliminals puts the process on autopilot. I can just lay back and listen.

If you’re interested in learning more, I’ve put together a page with more information about my experience with Paraliminals. I’ve also gone to the trouble of negotiating a significant discount, available only to PickTheBrain readers. Check out the Paraliminals page for all the details.

If you want to build muscle, barbell exercises are the easiest way. The problem: you need weights. Not everyone can afford expensive gym memberships or buy a home gym. Maybe you don’t feel the need to get huge, but would still like to gain a little muscle and tone what you already have. Fortunately, there are some simple yet effective exercises you can use to sculpt your body.Here’s a muscle building workout you can do without weights: Click here to continue »

I’m sure you have experienced a wake up call at some point in your life. Events such as a divorce, a new baby, a firing, a terrorist attack, or a near-death experience tend to hit us like a ton of bricks and are not easily forgotten.Personally, what I find interesting is that implicit in the idea of a wake up call is that we have, in some sense, been asleep. What is it that we have been asleep to?When I think of wake up calls, the word that comes to mind is “priorities”. Wake up calls tend to make us stop, pull back from the runway of life, and consider exactly what it is that is important to us.Very often we realize that we have had our priorities upside down. Perhaps we have been spending too much time at the office, too little time with our kids, or have been neglecting our health. So to answer my earlier question, it seems to me that many of us travel through life asleep to what really is important.If you are in a slumber, the following are some ideas to help you wake up and remember the important things in your life: Click here to continue »